No one can accuse Bruins first-round draft pick Dougie Hamilton of setting the bar low for his potential development into an NHL star.

When asked to compare his game to previous NHL standouts, Hamilton looked toward the top of the list.

“Guys like [Jay] Bouwmeester, [Rob] Blake, [Brent] Burns. I think I’m a big, complete defenseman and I can skate well, pretty physical, and make good passes and contribute offensively as well,” said the 18-year-old after the Bruins picked him No. 9 overall at tonight’s NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minn.

If Hamilton can develop into a player that can be mentioned in the same breath as the players he named, the Bruins will have gotten a steal.

There’s no telling if his development will include a stint in Boston next season or another year with Niagara of the OHL.

“I have no idea,” he said. “It depends what the Bruins want to do and I’ll be happy with whatever.”

What the Bruins do in free agency and the lack of a performance-bonus cushion will probably have a say in what the Bruins do with Hamilton. But after several years of using their first-round picks on forwards, the Bruins finally have themselves a blue-chip defenseman.

“He’s still fairly skinny. Has to be stronger. But you never know. … But my guess is he’d still be one year away,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli.

The Bruins hope he can thrive on the ice the way he did in the classroom. He was the OHL Scholastic Player of the Year. Here’s what the OHL press release said about that:

Hamilton … attends Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines where he maintains an overall academic average of 94% in six Grade 12-level courses including marks of 97% in Calculus, 95% in Physics, 95% in Personal and Fitness, 92% in English, 92% in Biology, and 91% in Chemistry.

Although Hamilton didn’t visit Boston for an interview, he attended Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. And he was impressed with the TD Garden fans.

“The fans were crazy, which is good to see,” said Hamilton.

He said he was still picturing the Garden crazies when he was picked by the Bruins. If he develops into the player he and the Bruins think he can become, they’ll be going nuts for Dougie Hamilton not too long from now.

@Cormac. I think it was a great trade for the Wild. Talks with Burns’ agent were on the verge of getting ugly. This is the same agent that reps Gaborik and we know how smooth those talks went. This does open a big whole on D for the Wild but adding Setoguchi PLUS Coyle PLUS Phillips (with the pick) is more than enough in return. San Jose desperately needed someone of Burns’ ilk though and I think the return shows just how desperate they were.

As for Kabs, I got the same feeling when hearing CJ talk about it. The interview I saw, it was almost as if he was about to say he wouldn’t be resigning him haha… He tried, and I wouldn’t say failed, but Tomas just never seemed to gel in the lineup. The fact he ended up being a 5/6 guy for us just goes to show the maturity and dedication to our system the other guys are showing. I’ve said it here before, Kabs will end up in Detroit where they will give him his $5mil or so to replace Rafalski. He’ll do well there. Markov set a tone that Kaberle will have to follow now, and I don’t see the B’s parting with that kind of coin for him. At least I hope they don’t.

@CNL. You’re right iIt is the B’s year when everyone ahead of you take forwards and they get the second best and some say the best defenseman at nine.

I get the feeling from PC’s comments that Kabby isn’t coming back. I’d like to have someone fill that role and I don’t think Kampfer is the guy. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him play I need some tape. Whatever Chiarelli does is fine by me. After all he’s the best GM in the league right now and will have the ring to prove it.

I know! I didn’t even consider Hamilton a possibility. I was prepared to settle for Murphy or Beaulieu. Not that they’re chopp’d liver, but everything I’d heard about Hamilton points to a potential Norris win one day. I also like his pedigree (Olympian parents) and his intelligence (2011 CHL Scholastic Player Of The Year with a 94% Avg.)… I assume we lucked out being a team in the top 10 that A) didn’t need immediate help and B) was looking to add a d-man. Seems like everyone else was trying to add guys up front.

I think I almost shit myself when Hamilton was still there. Everything is coming up Black & Gold this year!! Lovin’ it. I still don’t think we lost too badly on the Kabs deal. We do have a ‘Cup and he did lead our D in points while playing considerably less minutes. I watched a couple of Marlie games once Colborne came here, just to see him play. I wasn’t very impressed, not to mention we have about 80 centres in our system right now. Kaberle just didn’t fit here but Chia got it out of his system and as long as he doesn’t do anything rash (like resign him, unless for a bargain which won’t happen), I’m happy wearing my Stanley Cup Champs tee and laughing at all my Leaf buddies.

Oshawa’s Boone Jenner is still around. He’d be a steal at 40. Michael Houser a goalie from London could be had at the end of the day. If they could get these two guys I’d be thrilled. Grimaldi and Saad are still available as well.

I am thrilled about this one. Each pick that was made from about 5 on I kept calculating, and hoping… and then there he was at 9! It couldn’t have gone better for the Bs, in my opinion, having the choice of any D Man out there except Larsson. And IMO they picked the perfect guy. Wow.

Also, may not happen this upcoming season. But eventually we’re gonna see Seguin, Knight & Hamilton all on the ice for the Black and Gold. Sure, it will be 3 years after the trade, but if all 3 develop as we hope…man that trade looks good.

Haha Bojangles – F’in A is right! This is a lot of fun. Felt like playing with house money after the Cup. Gotta love this pick. Kid looks real good. And he’s bright, too so hopefully a fast learner. And ya can’t teach 6’4 or those athletic genes.
Also be fun to watch how Murphy (CAR) and Beaulieu (Mon)develop. If they stay with those teams we’ll get to see them often. Hopefully they all do well, but our kids the stud.

Like I said – I’m through the roof. For this team – don’t think there is a better pick in the whole line up. I don’t think people realize what an anchor we just picked up. I a rock. This is a foundation piece. For the football fans out there… This is your left tackle for the next 10 years.

I think with Scheifele moving up that allowed Dougie to become a Bruin. He was ranked as high as sixth by some. I can’t believe all the trades. Love it. Couturier was almost there. Then what do you do?